Paychex Small Business Snapshot: Confidence on Main Street Continues Post-Inauguration

In the weeks following the inauguration of President Trump, many small business owners are expressing continued confidence under the new administration. According to a recent poll from Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of integrated human capital management services for payroll, human resources, retirement, and insurance services, 52% of small business owners feel confident in their ability to grow.

Pre-election Paychex research indicated that half of small business owners felt then-candidate Donald Trump best represented the interests of small businesses. This latest Paychex Small Business Snapshot illustrates a level of continued optimism under the Trump administration with slightly more than half of respondents feeling confident to highly confident in their ability to grow and 37% expressing moderate confidence. Conversely, 11% of respondents report having relatively low confidence in their ability to grow.

“While many small business owners have expressed a feeling of confidence and optimism, we have not yet seen this translate into stronger job growth,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. “In fact, while positive, the latest Paychex | IHS Small Business Jobs Index shows the same pace of employment growth as it averaged in 2016. Any significant boost in jobs is not likely to occur until consumer demand increases and actual changes from the administration such as tax reform start to take place.”

Business owners operating in some industries appear to be more confident right now than others. Manufacturing, for example, represents the most confident (61%) industry sector. For this data sample, that group includes manufacturing, construction, mining, scientific and technical services, and utilities. “Other services,” which includes administrative, support, waste management and remediation service, and other services (except public administration) is the least confident (41%) among industries.

“With respect to manufacturing specifically, a majority of business owners’ level of confidence could be tied to President Trump’s promises to renegotiate trade deals, boost jobs in America, and invest heavily in infrastructure,” Mucci added.

To stay up-to-date on the top issues impacting small businesses today, please visit Paychex WORX.

About the Paychex Small Business SnapshotData included in the Paychex Small Business Snapshot was taken from the results of the Paychex Small Business Survey, administered by Bredin. The survey was conducted online between January 24, 2017 and January 29, 2017 and polled 493 principals of U.S. companies with fewer than 500 employees. As a part of the survey, respondents were asked to rate, on a scale of 1 (very low confidence) to 10 (very high confidence), their level of confidence in their ability to grow in the current climate.

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About Paychex

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) is a leading provider of integrated human capital management solutions for payroll, HR, retirement, and insurance services. By combining its innovative software-as-a-service technology and mobility platform with dedicated, personal service, Paychex empowers small- and medium-sized business owners to focus on the growth and management of their business. Backed by 45 years of industry expertise, Paychex serves approximately 605,000 payroll clients across more than 100 locations and pays one out of every 12 American private sector employees. Learn more about Paychex by visiting www.paychex.com, and stay connected on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tracy Volkmann began working at Paychex in July 2014 and currently serves as the public relations program manager. In this role, she is responsible for research PR efforts, as well as all publicity for the company's technology solution, Paychex Flex, and supporting overall goals of the public relations department. Tracy is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and has a background in collegiate athletic communications, having spent seven years at West Point.